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Scholars subscribing to literal interpretations give two dates for creation according to the [[Talmud]]. They state that the first day of creation week was either Elul 25, AM 1 or Adar 25, AM 1, almost twelve or six months, respectively, ''after'' the modern epoch of the [[Hebrew calendar]]. Most prefer Elul 25 whereas a few prefer Adar 25. When these dates were chosen, both were the first day of the week (Sunday), but in the modern calendar, developed later, they are not. The sixth day of Creation week, when Adam was created, was the first day of the following month, either Tishri or Nisan, the first month of either the civil or biblical year, respectively. In both cases, the epoch of the modern calendar was called the ''molad tohu'' or mean new moon of chaos, because it occurred before Creation. This epoch was Tishri 1, AM 1 or October 7, 3761 BCE, the latter being the corresponding tabular date (same daylight period) in the [[proleptic Julian calendar|Julian calendar]].<ref>Edgar Frank, ''Talmudic and Rabbinical Chronology'' (New York, 1956)</ref>
Scholars subscribing to literal interpretations give two dates for creation according to the [[Talmud]]. They state that the first day of creation week was either Elul 25, AM 1 or Adar 25, AM 1, almost twelve or six months, respectively, ''after'' the modern epoch of the [[Hebrew calendar]]. Most prefer Elul 25 whereas a few prefer Adar 25. When these dates were chosen, both were the first day of the week (Sunday), but in the modern calendar, developed later, they are not. The sixth day of Creation week, when Adam was created, was the first day of the following month, either Tishri or Nisan, the first month of either the civil or biblical year, respectively. In both cases, the epoch of the modern calendar was called the ''molad tohu'' or mean new moon of chaos, because it occurred before Creation. This epoch was Tishri 1, AM 1 or October 7, 3761 BCE, the latter being the corresponding tabular date (same daylight period) in the [[proleptic Julian calendar|Julian calendar]].<ref>Edgar Frank, ''Talmudic and Rabbinical Chronology'' (New York, 1956)</ref>


Scholars of the [[Kabbalah]] taught that the Earth was created over 6,000 years ago. [[Bahya ben Asher]] concludes that there were many time systems occurring in the universe long before the spans of history that man is familiar with, and based on the Kabbalah, calculates that the Earth is billions of years old.<ref name=JVL/> [[Isaac ben Samuel of Acre]] calculated that the universe is actually 15,340,500,000 years old. He arrived at this conclusion by distinguishing between earthly "solar years" and "divine years," based on a verse from [[Psalms]], which states that "A thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday" (Psalm 90:4). If each day of a divine year is equal to a thousand earthly "solar years," then a divine year would be 365,250 years long. Isaac then makes some other calculations based on the [[Talmud]] and the Biblical [[Shmita|sabbatical year]], and arrives at the number 15.3405 billion,{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}. This estimate is approximately 2 billion years off the scientific estimation, which places the occurrence of the [[Big Bang]] at 13.7 ± 0.2 billion years ago.<ref>Hinshaw, G., et al. (2008). "Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Data Processing, Sky Maps, and Basic Results" (PDF). The Astrophysical Journal.</ref>
Scholars of the [[Kabbalah]] taught that the Earth was created over 6,000 years ago. [[Bahya ben Asher]] concludes that there were many time systems occurring in the universe long before the spans of history that man is familiar with, and based on the Kabbalah, calculates that the Earth is billions of years old.<ref name=JVL/> [[Isaac ben Samuel of Acre]] calculated that the universe is actually 15,340,500,000 years old. He arrived at this conclusion by distinguishing between earthly "solar years" and "divine years," based on a verse from [[Psalms]], which states that "A thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday" (Psalm 90:4). If each day of a divine year is equal to a thousand earthly "solar years," then a divine year would be 365,250 years long. Isaac then makes some other calculations based on the [[Talmud]] and the Biblical [[Shmita|sabbatical year]], and arrives at the number 15.3405 billion{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}. This estimate is approximately 2 billion years off the scientific estimation, which places the occurrence of the [[Big Bang]] at 13.7 ± 0.2 billion years ago.<ref>Hinshaw, G., et al. (2008). "Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Data Processing, Sky Maps, and Basic Results" (PDF). The Astrophysical Journal.</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 02:54, 11 June 2010

Cultures throughout history have believed the world formed or was formed at some time in the past, so methods of dating Creation have involved analysing scriptures.

Creation dates

The creation myths of different cultures put the creation of the world at different dates. Many historical calendars were based on these dates. Below are some examples of proposed dates of creation.

For reference, according to radiometric dating the planet Earth was formed 4.55 (± 1%) billion years ago and according to the Big Bang theory the Universe began expanding approximately 13.7 ± 0.2 billion years ago.

Maya Long Count

The Maya Long Count dates the Creation of the world of human beings to August 11, 3114 BCE (proleptic Gregorian calendar) or Monday, September 6, 3114 BCE (Julian calendar), both using the G.M.T. correlation, the completion of 13 bak'tuns, 13.0.0.0.0. On this day, Raised-up-Sky-Lord caused three stones to be set by associated gods at Lying-Down-Sky, First-Three-Stone-Place. Because the sky still lay on the primordial sea, it was black. The setting of the three stones centered the cosmos which allowed the sky to be raised, revealing the sun.[6]

Christianity

See also: Biblical cosmology
The Ussher date for creation, 4004 BCE, printed in the center margin of a KJV Bible

The Bible begins with the Book of Genesis, in which God creates the world, including the first human, a man named Adam, in six days. Genesis goes on to list many of Adam's descendants, in many cases giving the ages at which they had children and died. If these events and ages are interpreted literally throughout and the genealogies are considered closed, it is possible to build up a chronology in which many of the events of the Old Testament are dated to an estimated number of years after creation.

Some scholars have gone further, and have attempted to tie in this Biblical chronology with that of recorded history, thus establishing a date for creation in a modern calendar. Since there are periods in the Biblical story where dates are not given, the chronology has been subject to interpretation in many different ways, resulting in a variety of estimates of the date of Creation.

Two dominant dates for creation using such models exist, about 5500 BCE and about 4000 BCE. These were calculated from the genealogies in two versions of the Bible, with most of the difference arising from two versions of Genesis. The older dates are based on the Greek Septuagint. The later dates are based on the Hebrew Masoretic text. The patriarchs from Adam to Terach,[7] the father of Abraham, were often 100 years older when they begat their named son in the Septuagint than they were in the Hebrew or the Vulgate (Genesis 5, 11). The net difference between the two genealogies of Genesis was 1466 years (ignoring the "second year after the flood" ambiguity), which is virtually all of the 1500-year difference between 5500 BCE and 4000 BCE.

Some Traditionalist Catholics use the year 5199 BC, which is taken from Catholic martyrologies, and referred to as the true date of Creation in the "Mystical City of God," a 17th-century mystical work written by María de Ágreda concerning creation and the life of the Virgin Mary. This year was used by the church historian Eusebius in 324.[8]

In the English-speaking world, one of the most well known estimates in modern times is that of Archbishop James Ussher (1581–1656), who proposed a date of Sunday, October 23, 4004 BCE; he placed the beginning of this first day of creation, and hence the exact time of creation, at the previous nightfall, exactly 4,000 years before the birth of Christ according the ideas of his time. (See the Ussher chronology).[3]

In the second century BCE one Jewish writer wrote the Book of Jubilees, an attempt to divide the Genesis chronology into 7 and 49 year cycles (Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles).

The majority of classical Rabbis hold that the Earth was created around 6,000 years ago.[9] This view is based on a chronology developed in a midrash, Seder Olam, which was based on a literal reading of the book of Genesis. It is considered to have been written by the Tanna Yose ben Halafta and covers history from the creation of the universe to the construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It is known, however, that a literal approach is not always warranted when interpreting the Torah.[10] Two of the most influential rabbis commenting on the Talmud, Maimonides (Rambam) and Nahmanides (Ramban) held that Genesis should not be taken literally. A minority of classical rabbis believed that the world is older, basing their conclusions on verses in the Talmud the midrash.

Scholars subscribing to literal interpretations give two dates for creation according to the Talmud. They state that the first day of creation week was either Elul 25, AM 1 or Adar 25, AM 1, almost twelve or six months, respectively, after the modern epoch of the Hebrew calendar. Most prefer Elul 25 whereas a few prefer Adar 25. When these dates were chosen, both were the first day of the week (Sunday), but in the modern calendar, developed later, they are not. The sixth day of Creation week, when Adam was created, was the first day of the following month, either Tishri or Nisan, the first month of either the civil or biblical year, respectively. In both cases, the epoch of the modern calendar was called the molad tohu or mean new moon of chaos, because it occurred before Creation. This epoch was Tishri 1, AM 1 or October 7, 3761 BCE, the latter being the corresponding tabular date (same daylight period) in the Julian calendar.[11]

Scholars of the Kabbalah taught that the Earth was created over 6,000 years ago. Bahya ben Asher concludes that there were many time systems occurring in the universe long before the spans of history that man is familiar with, and based on the Kabbalah, calculates that the Earth is billions of years old.[9] Isaac ben Samuel of Acre calculated that the universe is actually 15,340,500,000 years old. He arrived at this conclusion by distinguishing between earthly "solar years" and "divine years," based on a verse from Psalms, which states that "A thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday" (Psalm 90:4). If each day of a divine year is equal to a thousand earthly "solar years," then a divine year would be 365,250 years long. Isaac then makes some other calculations based on the Talmud and the Biblical sabbatical year, and arrives at the number 15.3405 billion[citation needed]. This estimate is approximately 2 billion years off the scientific estimation, which places the occurrence of the Big Bang at 13.7 ± 0.2 billion years ago.[12]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ These are Julian calendar dates equivalent to Elul 25, AM 1 and Adar 25, AM 1 in the modern calculated Hebrew calendar even though these Jewish dates were originally given in the old observational calendar several centuries before the modern calendar was developed.
  2. ^ Mid.Rab.Vay.29; Pir.Dr.El.8; RaN.R.H.3a; Mmn.Hil.Kid.Hach.6.8; Shmitt.10.2
  3. ^ a b J. Ussher, The Annals of the World iv (1658)
  4. ^ The Death Of Constantine, Donald M. Nicol, from The Immortal Emperor, Cambridge University Press, Canto edition, 1992, ISBN 0521414563.
  5. ^ Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, ed. Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)
    CPR A427/B455: "If one assumes that the world has no beginning in time, then up to every given point in time an eternity has elapsed, and hence an infinite series of states of things in the world, each following another has passed away. But now the infinity of a series consists precisely on the fact that it can never be completed through a successive synthesis. Therefore an infinitely elapsed 'world-series' is impossible..."
    CPR A428/B456: "Suppose the universe has a beginning. Since the beginning is an existence preceded by a time in which the thing is not, there must be a preceding time in which the world was not... But now no arising of any sort of thing is possible in an empty time, because no part of such a time has... any distinguishing condition of its existence rather than its non-existence."
  6. ^ David Freidel, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker, Maya Cosmos: Three thousand years on the shaman's path (New York: William Morrow, 1993) pp.59–75.
  7. ^ Abraham's father is traditionally referred to in English as "Terah." The name "Terach" is a direct transliteration from his original Hebrew name. The "ch" at the end is pronounced as a guttural sound closer to "k" or "h" than the "ch" in, say, "chocolate."
  8. ^ V. Grumel, La chronologie (1958) 24-25.
  9. ^ a b Judaism and Evolution
  10. ^ Zohar, Vol. 1 Pritzer Edition, Translation & Commentary by Daniel C. Matt, Stanford University Press, 2004.
  11. ^ Edgar Frank, Talmudic and Rabbinical Chronology (New York, 1956)
  12. ^ Hinshaw, G., et al. (2008). "Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Data Processing, Sky Maps, and Basic Results" (PDF). The Astrophysical Journal.
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